In today’s second part of our bi-weekly Minor Happenings piece, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a deep look into Triple-A Columbus second baseman Jose Ramirez’s performance, his usage, how he fits onto the Major League roster and how he is being showcased as a potential trade chip. In addition to that he provides several comments from the front office on some players at Low-A Lake County such as Nellie Rodriguez, Jordan Milbrath and others, and provides insight and information on players such as Jesus Aguilar, Francisco Lindor, James Roberts, Claudio Bautista and more!

The arrival of first-rounder Clint Frazier highlighted the Captains’ week, though the team’s winning woes remained. They posted a 1-5 record last week as they managed to avoid a home sweep by the Burlington Bees, but their trip up north to Lansing, Mich. didn’t end well. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recaps the week.

Jose Ramirez, power hitter? The International League has been kind to Ramirez so far in 2014, as the infielder has put on an uncharacteristic power show. But Ramirez reminded us of the other parts of his game Wednesday, showing off his wheels and on-base ability. Join Jim Piascik as he analyzes Ramirez's night, Dorssys Paulino's talent shining through in Lake County, and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

The Lake County Captains lost their fifth straight game Wednesday, falling to the Lansing Lugnuts, 6-5. The Captains held a 4-0 advantage, but saw the lead evaporate late. Even though Lake County had four players with multiple hits, Lansing simply found a way to get it done late when the Captains could not.

Today in Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the impressive showing Ryan Merritt has had to date and how his value continues to increase. He also provides several comments from the front office on players at High-A Carolina such as Erik Gonzalez, Torsten Boss, Jeremy Lucas, Louis Head and others, looks at the slow start by Cody Anderson and why it is not a big deal, reviews Josh Tomlin’s performance to date, and provides insight and analysis on players like T.J. House, Enosil Tejeda, Michael Peoples, and more!

The Lansing Lugnuts (6-11) jumped ahead early in the game and rode a spectacular pitching performance by Jeremy Gabryszwski in a 6-1 win over the Lake County Captains (5-13) on Tuesday night. The Captains have dropped four straight and have lost nine of their last ten games.

Today we unveil the "Breakout Barometer" for the first time during the 2014 season. This piece will post once or twice a month over the next few months of the season and target prospects that either are in the midst of or on the verge of a breakout campaign. For today’s first piece the IBI's Tony Lastoria felt it best to take a deeper look at one of the more interesting gems from last year’s draft, right-handed pitcher Jordan Milbrath.

After going up early, the Lake County Captains lost to the Lansing Lugnuts Monday, 7-6. A run in the top of the first inning led to a short-lived advantage, but Lansing tied it up in the bottom half. Erac Haase homered and scored three runs, but it wasn't enough for the Captains to come out on top.

It is Monday, which means it is time to recap all of the hot and cold performances in the Indians minor league system over the past week. The Hot List posts every Monday and showcases the Top 15 performances from the previous seven days as well as the Bottom 5 performances over the past seven days, and includes insight, information and more on each player listed. Today's listing looks at players such as Trevor Bauer, Erik Gonzalez, Robbie Aviles, Anthony Santander, D.J. Brown and many others.

The Lake County Captains record fell to 5-11 after falling to the Burlington Bees, 6-1, Saturday. The Bees struck twice in the second, fourth and fifth innings while Lake County managed its solo run in the fifth. Captains starter Luis Lugo gave up six runs in less than five innings, but was spelled by Robbie Aviles, who turned in a promising set of 4.1 shutout innings.

The Lake County Captains (5-10) fell behind the Burlington Bees (8-6) early in the game and could not catch back up as they fell 5-2 on Friday night in front of 1,534 fans at Classic Park. With the loss, the Captains have dropped nine of the last ten games since starting the season 4-1.

In Adam Plutko's first start, he had the run prevention without the dominance. In his second start, he had the strikeouts, but not the run prevention. So what happened in Plutko's third start Thursday night? The 2013 11th round draft pick and College World Series champion put it all together. Join Jim Piascik as he looks at Plutko's overall brilliance, a few notable season debuts (including Clint Frazier day), and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

Lake County left fielder Cody Ferrell tallied three hits, including a two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning, as the Captains beat the Burlington Bees by a final of 6-3. Ferrell now has eight RBI’s on the season. The Captains snapped an eight-game losing streak with the win.

It is the first Minor Happenings of the year! The IBI's Tony Lastoria dives right into things with tons of information on Indians prospects throughout the system. He talks about Jesus Aguilar's start and how the Indians are experimenting with him a little to potentially add more versatility, provides some insight and thoughts on recent pickup Duke von Schamann, provide lots of injury details on all of the walking wounded throughout the system, provides a bevy of comments from the front office on the likes of Kyle Crockett and others, and also tons of insight into players like Trevor Bauer, Giovanny Urshela, Erik Gonzalez, Nellie Rodriguez and more.

Thanks to some bad weather Tuesday night, Akron, Carolina, and Lake County had doubleheaders Wednesday. With seven games on the slate throughout the system, there was plenty of action on the minor league front. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks it all down, including yet another dominant Trevor Bauer start, Ryan Merritt continuing to put up strong outings, and much more as he takes you on a lengthy trip Around the Farm.

A doubleheader led to two more losses for the Lake County Captains Wednesday night. The Captains, who have now lost eight consecutive games, fell to the Peoria Chiefs, 4-0, two times in a row. The offense simply never got going for Lake County, as the team totaled seven hits over 14 innings of play.

The Lake County Captains are currently stuck in a six-game losing streak. Since the season's start, the team's arms have struggled as they've allowed more runs than any team in the Midwest League. The bright side rests within the bats, where power has proved to be beneficial. IBI's Stephanie Metzger recaps the Captains' first 11 games.

After multiple rain delays, the Lake County Captains lost to the Peoria Chiefs in a 15-run game. The final score of 9-6 was displayed along side a box score that tallied just five hits with eight errors for the Captains. Five errors from shortstop Dorssys Paulino contributed to an overall forgettable night for the Lake County defense.

The IBI Hot List returns this week with the first edition recapping the hot performances to date in the Indians system. This listing is a quick rundown through the hottest and some of the coldest players in the Indians system over the past seven days with news and insight into their performances. The IBI's Tony Lastoria ranks the performances of them all, including names like Aguilar, Bauer, Myles, Merritt, Lucas, Head, Ferrell and more!

A comeback attempt fell short for The Lake County Captains as they lost to the Kane County Cougers 9-8 Saturday. Adam Plutko lasted less than five innings, giving up five runs, while Juan Panigua tossed four two-hit innings for Kane County. The Lake County offense was hot at times, but not enough to overcome five extra-base hits from the Cougars.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!